News Local/State

Dennis Hastert Pleads Guilty In Hush-Money Case

by The Associated Press
 
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, center, arrives at the federal courthouse Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, in Chicago, where he is scheduled to change his plea to guilty in a hush-money case that alleges he agreed to pay someone $3.5 million to hide cl

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, center, arrives at the federal courthouse Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, in Chicago, where he is scheduled to change his plea to guilty in a hush-money case that alleges he agreed to pay someone $3.5 million to hide claims of past misconduct by the Illinois Republican. Matt Marton/AP

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert has pleaded guilty in a hush-money case, in a deal with prosecutors that calls for him to serve up to six months in prison.  Hastert pleaded guilty to a charge that he evaded banking laws.  Sentencing is set for Feb. 29.

The plea marks the fall from grace of a politician who rose from obscurity in rural Illinois to become second in the line of succession to the presidency.
 
An indictment issued in May says the 73-year-old Republican agreed to pay someone referred to only as "Individual A'' $3.5 million to hide past misconduct by Hastert.
 
The Associated Press and other media have cited anonymous sources in reporting the payments were to conceal claims of sexual misconduct.

Hastert will be sentenced Feb. 29. He says he knew he was doing wrong by trying to conceal his large cash withdrawals.
 
In a brief written statement, Hastert said Wednesday he didn't want the FBI to know how he "was intending to spend the money." 

He was surrounded by his attorneys and escorted by about half a dozen U.S. Marshals as he departed the courthouse on Wednesday morning. Hastert was driven away in a black SUV.